Two Tales of Twins from Ancient Greece and Rome (Ursula Dubosarsky, illus by David Allan, Christmas Press)

Getting big names in children’s literature to rework myths and legends is a clever way to keep the stories alive. Previously, Christmas Press has released Two Trickster Tales from Russia and Two Selkie Stories from Scotland. The next cab off the rank is Ursula Dubosarsky’s Two Tales of Twins from Ancient Greece and Rome. The twins concerned are Artemis and Apollo, the arrow-wielding, dragon-fighting gods, and Romulus and Remus, the quarrelsome brothers who wanted to build a city together but couldn’t agree. I found Apollo and Artemis’ story a bit laboured and twee, but Romulus and Remus’ story was more compelling. David Allan’s bold illustrations complement the text well. These tales are aimed at primary school-aged children, and due to their specific nature they may appeal to a niche market. In saying that, there may well be a dearth of these kinds of books about, and teachers could be the ones to make the most use out of them.

Katie Haydon is a former assistant editor of Books+Publishing and a freelance reviewer